Saturday, October 31, 2009

Credit Card/Identity Theft in Kenya




One of our readers, a local security consultant, noticed a disturbing trend in Kenya concerning the way many businesses are handling credit card transactions and provided some valuable information and tips to help protect you from credit or identity theft.
Statistics in the United States from the Federal Trade Commission reported that 1 in 6 Americans would become a victim of identity theft in 2008. Criminal identity theft occurs when an imposter gives another person's name and personal information such as a drivers' license, date of birth, or National ID to obtain a job, housing, money, goods, or other services. Or the imposter may present to a counterfeit license or form of ID containing another person's data.

So how to do we prevent this from happening to us? First every household needs a shredder and our reader recommends the cross cut type. Dumpster diving, going through the rubbish for information, is an old method but still the number one way criminals get our information. Our reader noted that many of the businesses in Kenya are still printing our full credit card numbers on receipts. If you forget to take a receipt, throw it into the rubbish, or simply leave the receipt laying about in your house you are essentially giving your credit card to anyone who has access to this receipt. When you notice a business isn’t blocking out your card number on the receipt you need to bring this to the attention of the restaurant or store manager and to your bank. Eventually when enough people take notice and complain, change will come about.

Another common practice in many local businesses is for the store to enter your full credit card information into their computer system. Most people rarely notice when this happens but after the attendant runs your card into the machine they sometimes move to a computer and begin entering your personal information. Our reader noted when this happens he asks to speak with the manager and if they won’t run the transaction without recording personal information then he will pay cash or cancel the transaction. It only takes one dishonest employee or someone with a basic knowledge of computers and the stores entire customer list with credit card information can be stolen. There is no reason or excuse for a business to keep a file or store your personal information, and unless you bring this to the stores attention the practice will continue.

We’ve discussed this in previous newsletters but you should never give out personal information over the phone, and careful consideration should be made concerning the personal information you provide to all businesses. In Kenya scams are often run out of the prisons and may take many forms. Pre-texting is where a person pretending to be with a legitimate company like your mobile carrier, supermarket, etc calls or sends an sms to try to get you to verify your account numbers or even passport number. Phishing is basically the same except the thief will send you an email instead of calling you. Fake sweepstakes or lottery offers are usually sent by sms or email and claim that you've won a promotion, lottery or some other sweepstakes that you've never actually entered. Remember if contacted by phone or sms message, remain calm and don’t give out any personal information. Always note the number, don’t pick up if they call again, and never respond to messages from unknown numbers.

Social Networking sights are another area where thieves may gather your personal information. Most adults are careful about the information they give out but some teenagers and even unknowing adults may put themselves at risk of identity theft with the personal information the post to online sites such as Facebook. Identity thieves find names, addresses, and even birth dates on popular sites and use them to commit identity fraud.

Another area of concern comes from lost or stolen personal items. It's pretty obvious how thieves steal your identity by stealing your wallet or purse but how many consider the personal information they’re storing inside of an iphone or laptop. As the technology becomes smaller and easier to use you may be tempted to store personal information on these devices. Careful consideration should be made concerning the personal information you store on these devices. There are commercial programs available which store this information inside of password protected vaults or encrypted partitions, but the best practice is to consider how this information could be used in the hands of thieves and then decide if it’s worth storing the information on your device and the level of protection you may need for this personal information.
It’s easy to think, “it won’t happen to me, or hasn’t happened yet” but given the statistics the crime is growing fast and the chances are high you may be affected. There are many more tactics used to gain access to your personal information and the thieves are coming up with new scams daily. Unless you are proactive in your approach to protect yourself from this crime by limiting the personal information you give out and speaking out when stores or business aren’t protecting your privacy you too could be victim of this crime.

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